Posts by Martha Fischer at Blogging Sundance

Destricted Gets US Distribution

Posted May 24th 2006 3:31PM by Martha Fischer

Look out for flying pigs: The wildly unmarketable, compilation-style porn flick Destricted (review) has actually been picked up for US distribution. Though the movie was passed over by American companies at Sundance where it had its debut (at that time only UK distribution was secured), IFC Entertainment bought the rights at Cannes following a recent screening. According to Screen Daily, IFC plans to give the film one of those increasingly-popular simultaneous home-and-theater releases; it will be on screens -- presumably in IFC's own facilities, at least in New York -- and available via video-on-demand through their FirstTake branch.

For those of you not up on your arty porn, Destricted is made up of seven segments by different directors (Larry Clark, Matthew Barney, and Gaspar Noé among them) who were told to make pornography and to keep it shorter than 20 minutes - anything else they did was up to them.

So maybe there's hope for Shortbus after all, huh? Screw the MPAA, bring on the porn!

Distribution Deal for Sundance Winner

Posted May 14th 2006 8:34PM by Martha Fischer

Yet another 2006 Sundance success story has scored US distribution. This time, it's God Grew Tired of Us, the debut of director Christopher Dillon Quinn, which won both an audience award and the jury prize for best documentary at the festival, and has been picked up by Newmarket. The movie, which tells the story of three Sudanese refugees adjusting to their new lives in the US, has been well-reviewed at festival screenings -- though it's also sometimes criticized for treading the same path as 2003's impressive doc, The Lost Boys of Sudan, a film from which it gets its subtitle -- but outside of festivals it hasn't really been seen. Thanks to Newmarket, though, that's going to change: The distributor plans to have the film in American theaters this fall.

Quickhits: A Woman at PDR, Saints to First Look, More to Balls of Fury, Jolie to Ocean's?

Posted Apr 7th 2006 10:09PM by Martha Fischer

Friday's bits and pieces:

First Look has picked up the worldwide rights to this year's Sundance hit, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. The autobiographical film, which is based on parts of director Dito Montiel's memoirs, didn't particularly impress either James or The Hollywood Reporter's Duane Byrge; you can decided for yourself this fall, when the movie is expected to hit theaters.

According to the latest scuttlebutt, Angelina Jolie might just be spending some (professional, of course) time with George Clooney in the near future. Rumor has it that Brad Pitt is trying to persuade her to join him in Ocean's Thirteen, though who Jolie would play has of course not been discussed -- with this sort of story, it's the idea of the two of them on screen together that's fun. Details, schmetails.

This morning's Hollywood Reporter offers some more details on the rapidly expanding cast of Balls of Fury which, when it comes to buzz, just might be the next Snakes on a Plane. And if it's not, you people are just not paying attention -- it's Christopher Walken! It's ping-pong! I mean, come ON! Joining Walken in the dark underworld of the pong are George Lopez, who will play an FBI agent bent on taking Walken down, and Maggie Q as "the sexy niece of...Master Wong," the master of the paddle who is brought in to train the FBI's pong-plant (that'll be Dan Fogler). How can you resist any of this?

Until today, P.D.R. -- the based-on-a-true-story movie about a heroic swim coach and the tough youths he straighted out -- had nothing but testosterone on board. Terrence Howard and Bernie Mac are set to costar, while Diana Ross' son Evan, who made an impressive debut in ATL, will play one of the kids. Now, though, there's finally a woman around (Perhaps she'll hang some curtains. Or maybe do some dusting.): Kimberly Elise has come on board as the female lead.

Sundance @ BAM

Posted Apr 2nd 2006 4:34PM by Martha Fischer

As Erik reported back in January (Can you believe it's already April?), the Sundance Institute will bring its indie mojo to the east coast next month with a series at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). For eleven days, starting on May 11, BAM will be featuring not only films from this year's Sundance festival, but also Q&A sessions with filmmakers, discussions on independent cinema, and chances to see and hear works from the Sundance composers lab and new works of musical theater.

Among the 14 films that will screen at BAM are Iraq in Fragments (look for a review from Kim in the next couple of days), artsy porn flick Destricted, Wristcutters: A Love Story, Sherrybaby, and screenwriting award winner Stephanie Daley. Also, as an added bonus for you The Usual Suspects fans (it premiered at Sundance in 1995), screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie will be featured at a special event, discussing the development of his film and showing "never-before-seen uncut footage straight from [the]...set." Yeah, you suddenly want to go to Brooklyn, don't you?

Tickets for most screenings go on sale next Monday, so get your calendar out and starting making some plans.

Lots of Bodies for Dead Girl

Posted Mar 24th 2006 7:03PM by Martha Fischer

Karen Moncrieff's Blue Car, which she wrote and directed (her first attempt at both), is a complex drama that centers on a high school student who is both mentored and desired by her teacher; the film was nominated for handful of awards and was very well-reviewed upon its limited release in 2004, two years after it debuted at Sundance. And, based only on the list of actors lining up to participate in Moncrieff's new film, it appears that the highly-praised screenplay on which she based that directorial debut was no fluke. Among the names already associated with the film - an independent project entitled Dead Girl - are Toni Collette, Marcia Gay Harden, Giovanni Ribisi, and Mary Steenburgen, and Piper Laurie is in final negotiations to join them.

Moncrieff's film, the breadth of which stands in stark contrast to Blue Car's intimacy, "centers on the dark mystery surrounding a young woman's death, which is gradually revealed when the lives of seemingly uninvolved people intersect." Production begins next month in LA.

A Peek at Science of Sleep

Posted Mar 14th 2006 12:01PM by Martha Fischer

Partizan, the production company behind Michel Gondry's The Science of Sleep, is offering a short clip from the film on their website. After watching it, my primary reaction was "Uh, what?" The White Stripes are blaring, and some crazy animated crap is happening in what looks like a window. Plus, there's a tape player that looks just like the one I used to have in my room. Gael García Bernal is waving his arms around and apparently causing some destruction in the window-world. Meanwhile, three people dressed in 70s clothing bow behind him, and then laugh. Sometimes. And boy, do they like it when the animation turns in a little construction scene! Needless to say, taken on its own, this clip would NOT send me running to the theater. After reading Karina's review of the film from Sundance, however, I watch it again and loved it - when viewed with what little context the film can be bothered to provide, the scene suddenly makes a charming kind of sense. So, if you're not familiar with the film? Read the review, THEN download the clip.

Since the clip is in the form of a podcast, one hopes that this is just the first in a series of sneak looks at the film, which will be released in the US in August.

[via Filmmaker Blog]

Another Sundance winner sells: Quinceanera to SPC

Posted Mar 13th 2006 12:07PM by Martha Fischer

Quinceañera, which won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award (in addition to being one of Kim's favorites) at this year's Sundance, has been picked up for North and Latin American distribution by Sony Pictures Classics. Though the rights to the film sold almost immediately at the European Film Market, it took a little longer for a deal to firm up in the US, despite the fact that multiple buyers were reportedly interested in the film from the beginning. It's been suggested that the delay stemmed from concerns about the accessibility of the film's dialogue, which is in both English and Spanish but, to their credit, SPC got over their fears and took the plunge.

Quinceañera - described by an SPC rep as "that rare film that perfectly and gracefully captures the uniqueness of a culture while also reflecting on the evolution of our society" - tells the story of a young, Mexican-American girl who discovers she is pregnant just as her family is planning her 15th birthday celebration, or Quinceañera. The film features several non-professional actors, and was reportedly inspired by people the film's directors know in their Echo Park neighborhood (where the movie is set).

Palm picks up Sundance honoree 13 (Tzameti)

Posted Mar 10th 2006 7:03PM by Martha Fischer

13 (Tzameti) is the latest Sundance hit to be acquired for American distribution: Palm Pictures just bought the theatrical and home entertainment rights to the film, which won both the Sundance Jury Prize for best dramatic feature and the De Laurentiis Award for best first film at Venice last fall. Described by Palm's head of acquisitions as "a mix of Rififi, Man Bites Dog and Fight Club" that "should become a cult classic," the thriller tells the story of a builder (played by the director's brother) who accidentally gets involved with gangsters, and finds himself caught up in "a deadly underground game of Russian roulette."

Based entirely on Kim's Sundance review of the film, I've been waiting for this news since the festival wrapped - it's great to hear. What's not so great, however, is Screen Daily's report that "numerous US producers are buzzing for remake rights." Sigh. (Or, as Kim said when I told her the news, "Bad, BAD producers. Back away from the film!") Well, at least Palm's release window (they plan to have the movie in theaters this fall) is such that the original will be on screens before the inevitable remake drops.

Human Rights Watch film festival

Posted Mar 9th 2006 10:02PM by Martha Fischer

The Human Rights Watch Film Festival opens next week in London (New York gets one in June), continuing the group's effort to both showcase and, increasingly, "[help] make movies with distinct human rights themes." In addition to screenings - some of the world premieres- the festival offers short plays on relevant themes, educational programs for students, and Q&As with actors and directors involved in some of the featured films.

Among the works in this year's festival are James Longley's Iraq in Fragments, which won the documentary cinematography and directing awards at this year's Sundance Festival, and Winter in Baghdad and Smiling in a War Zone, documentaries about American involvement in the Middle East that examine the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, respectively. Other topics explored in this years films include race relations in Brazil, Peru's battle against the Shining Path rebel group, and the mistreatment of women in depressingly high number of countries.

The festival runs from March 15-25 in a wide array of theaters in London; discount tickets can be bought in advance on the festival's website (linked above).

MoveOn, The Documentary

Posted Mar 1st 2006 2:08PM by Martha Fischer

Founded in 1998, MoveOn didn't rise to national prominence until the 2004 election, when it aggressively campaigned for John Kerry, raising millions of dollars and running anti-Bush ads in venues ranging from newspapers and billboards to television and the web. The group's story and history struck documentarian Marc Levin - who, seeing as how his Slam won major prizes at Cannes and Sundance in 1998, might just know what he's talking about - as interesting enough to drive a film.

With the help of funds raised by MoveOn, Levin is currently shooting the creatively named MoveOn: The Movie, which he hopes to have ready for festival screenings in the fall of 2007. Though Levin has idealistic goals for his movie ("The key for me is that you've got to make this an evergreen, not a propaganda piece."), it seems almost impossible that a project funded and produced by MoveOn organizers could have a hope of being anything but propaganda. Is this unsettling to anyone else, or is it typical for the organizations/individuals being portrayed to contribute funding to documentaries? I mean, we all mock the pro-Wal-Mart documentary because the company paid for it - how will Levin be able to convince the public that his film is different?

A very Special trailer

Posted Feb 18th 2006 5:01PM by Martha Fischer

Like Todd at Twitch, I'm a huge Michael Rapaport fan. Ever since I accidentally caught his debut, Zebrahead, at my local multiplex (!) in college, I've wondered why such a talented, interesting actor ends up in so much godforsaken crap. He's clearly cursed with a)needing to make money (presumably The War at Home is keeping him in groceries), and b)not being a hot, photogenic kid who gets jobs because he's pretty. Sometimes the latter curse can be turned into a blessing, though, because it means people with weird, interesting scripts looking for an actor with passion and no fear come to him first.

The result of one of those imagined encounters is Special, a movie I had never heard of until I saw the trailer on Twitch yesterday. It's about "a lonely metermaid [who] has a psychotic reaction to his medication and becomes convinced he's a superhero," and its tagline is the realistically harsh "A very select group of people in life are truly gifted. Special is a movie about everyone else." The trailer is both completely hilarious and incredibly depressing, but Rapaport is fantastic throughout, and the movie - the debut of writer/directors Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore - looks really wonderful. It played at Sundance this year but somehow managed to evade our screening dragnet; as of yet, no distribution has been secured.

[via Twitch]

Paramount's Inconvenient Truth

Posted Feb 14th 2006 2:08PM by Martha Fischer

Despite the fact that most reviews of its Sundance premiere (our is here) last month were positive, the rights to An Inconvenient Truth failed to sell at the festival. Which, really, is understandable - the idea of advertising a movie about Al Gore giving a global warming lecture is daunting enough to scare off even the most liberal, tree-hugging studio executives. Paramount, however, has decided that the task is worth undertaking, and recently acquired worldwide rights to the film for its (apparently still nameless) specialty division.

The movie, which boasts a surprisingly A-list credits list (including producer Lawrence Bender and producer-director Davis Guggenheim, who works on HBO's extraordinary Deadwood), is expected to be in US theaters in May; there is no word yet of Paramount's distribution plans for the rest of the world. Gore's new book (also, by happy coincidence, called An Inconvenient Truth) will be published this spring as well - it's going to be a global warming media blitz.

Paris Hilton makes Redford crazy!

Posted Feb 13th 2006 12:02PM by Martha Fischer

It's come to this, then: Sundance founder Robert Redford is so put off by what his creation has become that he can hardly stand to attend the damn thing. Though he did show up for the festival's opening night, Redford apparently took off shortly thereafter, possibly in an effort to avoid the plague of "starlets." Talking to the AP yesterday, the actor could barely contain his disgust, telling reporters that Sundance is now seen as "a big fat market where you have people like Paris Hilton going to parties." Paris? Really? Why, whatever was she doing there (apart, that is, from posing and trying to score free stuff)? Redford sure as hell doesn't know. "She doesn't have anything to do with anything. I think the festival is close to being out of control."

How great is it that the presence of Paris Hilton was the final straw for Redford? It's fun to imagine him walking down the street peacefully, only to see her and run screaming in the other direction. The next day, he was on a flight out of town.

Lawsuit over Factory Girl rights

Posted Feb 8th 2006 4:59PM by Martha Fischer

At Sundance last week, the Weinstein Company triumphantly announced that it had landed the rights to distribute the Edie Sedgwick biopic, Factory Girl, in a group of English-speaking territories, including North America. This news came as a bit of a shock to the people at Sony, however, who thought they had acquired North American rights back in October. Oops.

According to a lawsuit filed by Sony early this week, they first saw the script in July, and had further contact with Holly Wiersma, the film's producer, the following fall. When the movie found itself struggling for financing, Sony "offered to buy the North American distribution rights - something Wiersma agreed to in writing, through her agents, after negotiations concluded in October." Though the producer has yet to publicly respond to the charges, it would appear that the agreement - if, in fact, it happened - slipped her mind when Harvey and Bob were chatting her up in Park City. Did I mention oops?

Strangers with Candy surfaces at Thinkfilm

Posted Feb 7th 2006 11:59AM by Martha Fischer

The news last week that the Strangers with Candy movie would actually be hitting theaters (someday) sent the show's small-but-passionate fanbase into a frenzy, but a few details were missing. Like, say, who the hell was going to do the releasing, and when we could actually expect to see the movie on the big screen. Today, grasshopper, all has been revealed, and it's Thinkfilm that awaits your cards, letters, and gifts of thanks.

Having already cleared up the rights issues that caused the film to languish after Warner Independent Pictures acquired it at last year's Sundance Film Festival, Thinkfilm plans to have the movie in theaters this summer in "exclusive engagements" (translation: very limited release). The distributor is assuring the film's fans that no changes were made to it during the year at Warner's, and that they look forward to a summer of "gleefully promoting" the movie. Start the countdown today, kids: it's on.

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